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• Shazam is launching a new global playlist and a version for 42 nations
• 'Viral Chart' will update daily with tracks that are on the rise from Shazam's unique sources
• It'll include the tracks that users are identifying with Shazam

Shazam already offers several different charts to track popular songs and the most discovered ones for many countries across the globe. And yes, many of those tracks are likely ones that users – maybe even you – have identified with Shazam on your phone.

I mean, we’ve all been there, when we’re out and a song hits, that we can’t quite remember the name of, but we really need to know what it is. That’s where Shazam still hits as an excellent music recognition app.

Now, though, it wants to do a better job tracking the music of the moment and the various feeds that could mean a new number-one hit is coming. The Shazam Viral Charts are launching today and are available right now on Shazam’s site and as a playlist on Apple Music.

(Image credit: Future)

The collection will consist of an updated daily ‘Global’ playlist with 50 tracks and 42 national charts with 25 songs each. Shazam’s twist here is that it will use unique signals, which likely include what people are recognizing with the app, to highlight and recognize popular, up-and-coming, or classic songs that are on the rise.

Shazam is a bit cheeky in the Viral Chart description, noting that it’s not just what is trending on TikTok but taking a full view of the landscape. It says that it will track and identify the songs that are gaining popularity across “streaming, social, and TV placements,” but also tracks that are played in spaces like bars and restaurants.

That’s a lot to track—but then again, it’s likely using data that Shazam already has. It also suggests that Shazam’s Viral Charts will feature a mixture of old and new songs across all genres.

If you’re keen to listen to a wide variety of music or curious about what songs might be gaining streams in a specific location, Shazam’s Viral Charts are likely worth a try.

You can view and listen to song previews on the platform’s site under ‘charts,’ but considering Apple owns Shazam, it’s also no surprise that these are integrated as playlists you can follow on the music streaming platform.

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Qualcomm's trio of new commercials humously take on Intel-based laptops and make a seemingly salient point: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Series chips will run at max performance even unplugged, while Intel-based systems will only operate at 55%. But there's some nuance in there that makes these claims somewhat less than clear-cut.

While two of the ads, "The Max Performance You Deserve," and "Office Tripped," lean heavily into humor to make their case, the first ad, "What's the Intel?", is more pointed and uses the line, “Here’s a little intel on what’s really inside"

Clever, right? Qualcomm squeezed the brand name and the "Intel Inside" marketing campaign into one well-crafted dig.

It's in this ad where Qualcomm clearly lays out its core premise, stating that the SnapDragon X Elite PC "runs at max performance when it's unplugged." The ad then shows the Intel-based system and says, "that PC drops to as little as 55%".

Another ad, "The Max Performance You Deserve," focuses on the humor of asking people in various situations to "give 55%" of performance of love, of a bonus, of devotion to a country. The video does close with a Qualcomm rep telling a consumer, "Yup, PCs powered by Intel can cut performance up to 55% when unplugged, but with Snapdragon X Series, max performance when unplugged."

The last ad, "Office Tripped," shows how "when PC's powered by Intel perform at 55% when unplugged, it's like your whole team does." The ad comically depicts employees half-dressed, tables with half their legs gone, and signage half-lit. You get the idea.

A measure of what?

Of course, at no point in any of these ads does Qualcomm say that 55% of Intel's performance is worse than Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Series max performance. In fact, based on the systems they used to come up with those numbers, I'm not sure they could.

In the fine print, Qualcomm explains the numbers came from a Cinebench 2024 Multi Core benchmark run in Windows 11. The Qualcomm system was a Dell XPS 13 with a Snapdragon Elite running at 3.8Hz (unless it's been overclocked to 4.3GHz). It's compared against a Dell XPS 13 running an Intel Core Ultra 9 288V, which is Intel's top-of-the-line Ultra processor running at 5.1 GHz.

Considering Qualcomm chose a system running Intel's most powerful Ultra processor, it might be difficult to draw direct comparisons to the Snapdragon X Elite chip.

Of course, that's not really what Qualcomm did here. There are no direct performance comparisons. Instead, this is just a measure of how the systems, or rather the CPUs, perform when unplugged. The Intel system slows down its high-end Core Ultra 9 to, I bet, Core Ultra 5 processor-level performance.

I would be curious to see what sort of performance hit an Intel Core Ultra 5 (245T) takes when unplugged. It might perform at something far higher than 55%, if not "max" performance.

Sure, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Series ads are cutting and funny, but I'm not sure they're entirely fair to Intel. I want my laptops to maintain as much performance as possible when unplugged, but I also want them to maintain battery life.

Higher performing chips will draw more power, and the system, depending on how Intel and OEMs configure it, knows enough to reduce that power draw when you unplug the laptop.

Snapdragon X Series CPUs were built with mobile in mind. They run at a lower GHz than the fastest-performing X86 chips, and with a lower power draw, of course, they do a better job of maintaining max power.

In general, I love the mobile chip in laptops and desktops revolution that was kicked off by Apple Silicon. These mobile SoCs (system on chips) have transformed mobile computing and are a net positive for consumers and the industry, but let's not cloud the issue with ads that seem to make a direct comparison when, in fact, they really don't.

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• beWanted, a major European job seeker platform, kept an open Google database online
• Database contained more than 1.1 million records, mostly CVs and resumes
• Data belonged to people all over the world, and could now be at risk

A major European employment platform was reportedly leaking sensitive data from as many as a million users, researchers have claimed

Cybernews has revealed its researchers discovered an unprotected Google Cloud Storage (GCS) bucket belonging to beWanted, described as “one of the largest employment platforms in Europe”.

The bucket contained more than 1.1 million files, mostly CVs and resumes belonging to job seekers, from people all over the world, including Spain, Argentina, Guatemala, Honduras, and more.

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That being said, anyone that might have found the database beforehand would obtain people’s full names, phone numbers, email addresses, postal addresses, dates of birth, national ID numbers, nationalities, places of birth, social media links, employment history, and educational background.

This is more than enough information to run bespoke phishing, identity theft, or wire fraud attacks. Job openings are often the topic in phishing emails, and knowing the identities of people looking for a new position presents a unique opportunity for cybercriminals to create convincing phishing emails.

Through those, they could deliver malware, steal login credentials, break into their current employers’ IT network, and more.

Headquartered in Madrid, Spain, with offices in Mexico, Germany, and the UK, beWanted is described as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) enabled business, connecting job seekers with potential employers.

Cybernews’ researchers said they tried contacting beWanted and getting the company to lock the database down, but the firm never responded to any of their inquiries. As a result, “the data remains publicly accessible,” they said.

The team discovered the unprotected GCS bucket in November 2024, so it’s been sitting wide open on the internet for at least half a year now.

Anyone who knew where to look (by using specialized search engines like, for example, Shodan) could have found it already. However, without forensic analysis, it’s impossible to determine if that already happened or not.

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• Anker announces Soundcore Liberty 5 wireless earbuds
• They launched today: May 7, 2025
• They cost $129.99 / £99.99 / AU$169.99 but boast premium features

Anker has just launched a brand new pair of affordable wireless earbuds: the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5, and just like their predecessors they look like a cheap way to access premium features.

The Liberty 5 buds boast some useful features including active noise cancellation, an 12-hour battery life with active noise-cancellation (ANC), which can be extended up to 32 more hours with their charging case.

The new buds also offer improved bass performance thanks to dual bass-enhancing tubes that amplify the low frequencies resonance while increasing air flow, which according to Anker leads to more powerful, yet balanced, bass reproduction.

What’s more if you’re using an Android device you can access higher quality audio transmission via LDAC – so you should find your audio sounds more complete than it does on non-LDAC earbuds.

If you like the sound of these new earbuds they’re available to buy right now on Amazon.com, Soundcore.com, and from select retailers for $129.99 / £99.99 / AU$169.99.

(Image credit: Anker)

This means the buds aren’t quite as affordable as other recent cheap wireless earbuds like Panasonic’s new RB-F10 over-ear headphones, but with a premium suite of features a higher price is to be expected.

We haven’t been able to test these earbuds yet, but previous Anker audio products scored well; we gave the Anker Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro three-and-a-half stars, and the older Anker Soundcore Liberty Air buds earned four stars – though both could have been better.

The more recent Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 buds (which we haven’t tested) appeared to score well with reviewers, though you may find you’ll want to wait and see how well the latest Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 buds fare before you buy them – or maybe wait for a discount to make their $129.99 / £99.99 / AU$169.99 asking price is even more affordable.

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• Google's Android 16 beta includes new battery health tools
• It has seemingly confimed they'll be exclusive to Pixel 8 and newer devices
• We might learn more at Google I/O on May 20, 2025

One of the most useful features coming to devices with Android 16 will be new battery health tools found in your Pixel phone’s settings app – and we now know which devices will get them when they launch for everyone.

Android 16 will likely get detailed at Google I/O, but before then some software betas are cluing us into some of its features.

This includes new battery health capabilities.

The main tool is a stat at the top of the battery health page, which represents your phone’s current max battery capacity as a percentage of what a new standard battery’s capacity would be. For example, if it reads 93% that’s Google saying that your phone’s 100% charge is equivalent to a new battery (that is otherwise identical) being 93% charged.

It also highlights if your phone’s battery health is normal or not – all batteries degrade over time, but you’ll know if it’s degrading faster than it should be – as well as links to articles which could improve your battery health.

Better battery, better life

Android 16 should be detailed soon (Image credit: Google / Future)

It doesn’t necessarily add new protective measures – like the Google Pixel 9a’s Battery Health assistance – but it should nevertheless be a handy tool for contextualising why battery health measures are useful, and offer you useful tips if you are struggling to look after your phone’s battery.

So it’s a shame to discover that, according to Google in an Android 16 beta bug report (via, the feature which is currently “supported in Beta 3 on Pixel 8a and Pixel 9 products including 9 Pro Fold” won’t be coming to older Pixel devices due to “product limitations.”

Google’s phrasing strongly suggests only Pixel 8 phones and newer will get the latest battery health tools – it does leave open the door for it to come to older devices when Android 16 launches in full, though we aren’t holding our breath.

(Image credit: Peter Hoffmann)

Battery health is one of the least flashy but most useful tools software updates can provide.

Whether you replace your phone every two years or every five, knowing your device will be as reliable as possible for as long as possible is something we all appreciate. Afterall, no one likes those moments of terror as your phone’s battery ticks down at the worst possible time.

Alongside battery changes Android 16 will include a major visual refresh, a new and improved desktop mode, and USB hack protections.

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• Huawei is preparing to test its most advanced AI chip to date
• Reports says Ascend 910D aims to challenge Nvidia H100 in AI performance
• Analysts are skeptical, due to software gaps and ecosystem disadvantages

Huawei has been stepping up its ambitions to be seen as the Chinese rival to Nvidia in recent weeks - first, launching a new AI infrastructure architecture set, the CloudMatrix 384 Supernode, to rival the U.S. chip giant’s NVL72 system.

Then, a day after the United States announced plans to further tighten restrictions on AI chip exports to China - including Nvidia's H20 processor - Huawei revealed the Ascend 920, its next-generation AI chip, set to enter mass production in the second half of 2025.

Now, a report in The Wall Street Journal claims Huawei is preparing to test its most advanced AI chip to date, the Ascend 910D, and has approached several Chinese tech companies to begin technical evaluations. Sample batches are expected to be available as soon as late May 2025.

Sights set on Nvidia's H100

The Ascend 910D is the latest iteration of Huawei's AI processors, building on the existing 910B and 910C models. While the chip is not yet commercially available, Huawei reportedly hopes it can match - or even exceed - the performance of Nvidia's H100.

Independent analysts are, naturally, skeptical that Huawei will be able to close the performance and ecosystem gap between itself and Nvidia anytime soon.

HPCwire reports Neil Shah, VP at Counterpoint Research, as saying: “From an overall system-level design - compute, memory integration, networking scalability, and, crucially, software orchestration - Nvidia remains three generations ahead.”

That gap is partly due to Nvidia’s established software stack, notably CUDA, which plays a major role in accelerating and managing AI workloads. Huawei, by contrast, lacks a similarly mature software platform, making it harder to optimize across GPUs or scale across complex AI infrastructures.

Despite these hurdles, Huawei continues to ship its 910C chips in volume to Chinese data centers and research labs and the move to test the 910D suggests the company is doubling down on efforts to build a self-sufficient AI hardware ecosystem.

Whether the 910D becomes a true rival to Nvidia's H100, or remains a “good enough” option for domestic use, it signals a continuing shift in global AI hardware competition.

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• New earbuds have 11mm dynamic drivers in a super-light open design
• They offer up to 28 hours of battery life and quick-charging from flat
• Accentum Open cost $130 / £70 (or about AU$145)

It's official: as we reported last month, Sennheiser has a new set of open earbuds called the Accentum Open – and they're cheaper than previous reports predicted, unless you live in the US.

The new Accentum Open are available in a choice of cream and black with a recommended retail price of £69.99 / €89.90 / or about AU$145. Unfortunately, US pricing is somewhat steeper at $129.95. Ouch.

If you're not familiar with open-style earbud designs, this means you're not plugging a tip into your ear canal and sealing yourself from the outside world. Unlike many of the best open earbuds, the Accentum Opens are similar to the AirPods 4 in offering a stem-like design that sits outside your ear canal.

And despite lacking ANC (active noise cancellation), they could be a fine alternative to the AirPods 4 (which cost $129 / £129 / AU$219), depending on where you live...

Sennheiser Open earbuds: key features

(Image credit: Sennheiser)

The Sennheiser Open look very like the AirPods 4, with a long stem containing touch controls and a fairly AirPods-esque charging case. Each bud is just 4.4g, roughly the same as a single playing card, and battery life is 6.5 hours per bud and 28 hours with the charging case. Ten minutes of USB charging delivers up to 1.5 hours of listening time.

Inside each earbud there's an 11mm dynamic transducer that sits just outside your ear canal, enabling you to listen to music and podcasts in comfort without blocking out the outside world.

Sennheiser didn't go into more details, but the product listing on the Thomann retail site says the frequency range is 25Hz to 15,000Hz and that the supported codecs are SBC and AAC.

The earbuds have Bluetooth 5.3 with multipoint and there are dual beamforming microphones for clear calling. Overall, a compelling bundle then, particularly if they match the rest of the Accentum line during our testing – though that US price could make them less enticing if you live there.

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• LG’s innovative display has been designed for automotive use
• Company says a display and buttons can merge seamlessly into one
• The tech is just a concept, but we could see it in cars soon

The argument surrounding physical buttons in modern vehicles continues to rage, with some vocal sectors (arguably led by journalists) calling for a reduction in potentially distracting touchscreens and more easily locatable switches when driving.

But LG may have come up with an intriguing solution, as it's revealed a Stretchable automotive display ahead of SID Display Week in California – arguably the CES of the screen world.

The company says that its unique display, which sees a curved touchscreen miraculously come to life with a physical dial and buttons, has been designed to turn every interior space into a display… but one with physical buttons built into it.

There’s scant information about the inner workings of the innovation, but LG claims the display can expand by up to 50% while maintaining a high resolution of 100 ppi (pixels per inch) and full RGB color, comparable to that of a standard monitor.

In a video demo (below), the company shows how a dial rises out of the touchscreen surface when activated, allowing the user to increase or decrease volume or other settings with a twirl of a finger.

(Image credit: LG)

Similarly, a further two buttons rise out of the display below the main dial, which allow the user to more easily navigate menu screens.

LG points out that a conventional automotive fascia requires a separate automotive display and physical buttons, whereas this doesn't. Although it seems to have ignored the fact that many automakers tend to remove the physical buttons entirely, anyway.

As a result, LG thinks its expandable display, complete with protruding touch buttons, offers the best of both worlds that is "easy to operate even while driving".

Alongside the Stretchable display, the South Korean tech giant is also showcasing the world’s largest pillar-to-pillar 57-inch automotive display, as well as an 18-inch Slidable OLED display that can be rolled up and hidden in a vehicle’s interior headliner.

Analysis: One touch too many

(Image credit: LG)

While LG’s display technology is mightily impressive, looking like something hailing directly from an alien aircraft, it doesn’t really solve the issue of driver distraction when behind the wheel.

The beauty of physical buttons is that they remain static, easy to locate and the sort of thing drivers can operate with muscle memory alone, negating the need to take eyes off the road.

LG’s demonstration reveals that the unit has to be tapped a number of times before the physical buttons appear, often via very small and possibly quite fiddly parts of the screen.

It’s almost like a futuristic BMW iDrive system, but with additional steps required to reveal the physical dials and buttons that made the German marque’s system so easy to use... although the new version has controversially dispatched of buttons.

While a stretchable display might not be the best solution for drivers, it could be an ultra-luxurious system for those traveling in the rear – allowing designers the freedom to keep spaces looking clean and minimal, while offering a bit of drama when occupants decide they want to enjoy some Netflix on the 18-inch Slidable OLED display that’s tucked away in the roof.

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• Pakistan restored access to X across the country on May 7, 2025
• Since February 2024, people in Pakistan haven't had access to X without a VPN service
• The ban was enforced after it was "used to draw attention to instances of alleged election fraud."

Pakistan has restored access to X across the country after a 15-month-long ban.

Restored on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, authorities blocked access to the popular social media platform back in February 2024. The blockage forced citizens to turn to the best VPN service to keep accessing the app.

No more need for Pakistan VPN to use X

"Metrics show access to X (formerly Twitter) has been restored in Pakistan," confirmed internet watchdog NetBlocks on Wednesday.

Pakistan authorities began blocking the popular social media platform on February 17, 2024. The block came about a week after completely restricting the internet before and during election day as an alleged "security measure."

Yet, according to NetBlocks, "The platform was restricted by authorities in February 2024 after it was used to draw attention to instances of alleged election fraud."

Furthermore, while the large-scale disruptions to the internet connection lasted just a few days, the X ban persisted for almost 15 months.

Now, people in Pakistan can finally access X without connecting to a virtual private network (VPN) to spoof their real IP address location.

ℹ️ Confirmed: Metrics show access to X (formerly Twitter) has been restored in #Pakistan as conflict breaks out with neigbouring India. The platform was restricted by authories in February 2024 after it was used to draw attention to instances of alleged election fraud pic.twitter.com/nvwgpfja8OMay 7, 2025

X hasn't been the only victim of Pakistan's internet censors, though.

The likes of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and even Bluesky have also been briefly restricted in the past. While all these platforms are now accessible without a VPN, NetBlocks confirmed to TechRadar that Telegram is still blocked in the country at the time of writing.

What's certain is that VPN services remain a crucial tool for Pakistanis.

According to Access Now data, in fact, Pakistan imposed 21 shutdowns in 2024. This is the highest number ever for the country.

Recent reports also suggest that China is helping Pakistan build a Great Firewall-like internet censorship system. This project is expected to considerably increase both authorities' blocking and surveillance capabilities.

At the same time, a new licensing category for VPN providers was introduced in December as the latest bid to regulate Pakistan VPN usage.

TechRadar needs you! We want to know what you think about the world of VPNs. Whether you're a novice or a VPN pro, we want to hear your thoughts. Don't worry, though, your responses are completely anonymous, and it takes less than a minute to complete!

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• Wix announced Wix Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server
• The tool allows devs to generate code faster
• It is now available at no extra cost

Wix, one of the best website builders around, just announced a new artificial intelligence-powered tool to help both developers and website managers. It is called the Wix Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server, and enables users to generate code through AI assistants such as Claude, Cursor, and Windsurf.

With MCP Server, Wix users can simply talk to an AI assistant to get things done, instead of having to write code themselves. For example, users could ask the AI to add a product to the Wix store, and the AI will send the request to the Wix MCP Server. The tool will then connect to the right tools (for example inventory, checkout, CRM, or something different), and come back with either a confirmation message, a code snippet, or similar.

In a press release shared with TechRadar Pro earlier this week, Wix added that no manual coding, or additional setting up, is needed, and that the tool works in IDEs for developers and in chat interfaces for non-tech users.

Boosting productivity through AI

The tool is now available, at no additional cost, with an option to upgrade to a Premium Plan for extended functionalities, such as accepting online payments. Those interested in the new offering can check out more details on this link.

“This framework not only enhances productivity but also provides access to a wide variety of APIs and services, enabling the creation of seamless, cross-vertical solutions such as integrated commerce, blogs, scheduling, and events,” said Yaniv Even Haim, CTO at Wix. “As we step into the world of LLM-powered code generation, the quality and completeness of our APIs become one of our most important assets.”

Over the past year, Wix has significantly expanded its suite of AI-powered tools, introducing more than 30 new features, such as the AI website builder, AI Image Creator, AI Product Descriptions, SEO Meta Tags Generator, and many more.

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